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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23191186">Riding The Wheel</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marblez/pseuds/Marblez'>Marblez</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Tuck Everlasting - Miller/Tysen/Shear &amp; Federle, Tuck Everlasting - Natalie Babbitt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 06:13:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,926</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23191186</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marblez/pseuds/Marblez</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Extract (because I'm seriously struggling to come up with a decent summary right now) - </p><p>It was not the first time in their years with S.H.I.E.L.D that the brothers had received orders to report to Director Fury’s nor did they think it would be the last; usually, however, they at least had an inkling as to why they were being summoned. Riding the elevator to the top, a level only accessible with the correct security codes or pass, the brothers faced each other. </p><p>“…what have you done this time?”</p><p>This was the eldest brother, solemn and resigned, as he gazed down at his younger sibling.</p><p>“Nothing!” the shorter of the two protested. “Come on, why do you always assume…”</p><p>“Because, little brother, eight times out of ten you have done something to warrant us being hauled before the Director so what is it this time? Please don’t tell me you let Clint drag you into another prank war because you remember how badly that ended last time…”</p><p>“I would’ve won that prank war if only–”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>Disclaimer: </strong>I don’t own anything to do with Captain America or the Avengers nor do I own anything to do with Tuck Everlasting – I’ve merely borrowed the characters/plot for a bit.</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <span class="u">Riding The Wheel</span>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Prologue</strong>
</p>
<p>It was not the first time in their years with S.H.I.E.L.D that the brothers had received orders to report to Director Fury’s nor did they think it would be the last; usually, however, they at least had an inkling as to why they were being summoned. Riding the elevator to the top, a level only accessible with the correct security codes or pass, the brothers faced each other.</p>
<p>“…what have you done this time?”</p>
<p>This was the eldest brother, solemn and resigned, as he gazed down at his younger sibling.</p>
<p>“Nothing!” the shorter of the two protested. “Come on, why do you always assume…”</p>
<p>“Because, little brother, eight times out of ten you <em>have</em> done something to warrant us being hauled before the Director so what is it this time? Please don’t tell me you let Clint drag you into another prank war because you remember how badly that ended last time…”</p>
<p>“I would’ve won that prank war if only–”</p>
<p>His argument, whatever it might have been, was cut off by the doors sliding open to reveal Agent Hill, the Directors right hand woman and the third scariest woman they worked with. She’d lost out on the title to the Cavalry and the Black Widow which said something about just how terrifying the young woman was. Everyone, the brothers included, knew better than to mess with her and so dropped into silence and followed her to the Directors office.</p>
<p>“Sir,” she murmured into her communication device. “They’re here.”</p>
<p>Almost instantaneously the door before them cracked open, the state of the art security system disengaging to allow them to enter the room a couple of steps behind Agent Hill.</p>
<p>It wasn’t unusual to find Director Fury gazing out of the floor to ceiling glass windows that dominated the far wall of his office and so the brothers moved to stand in front of the desk, settling into the position of attention as they waited for their commanding officer to speak.</p>
<p>“At ease, gentlemen,” he ordered them, turning away from the window and rounding the desk in one smooth motion, making his way across to stand directly in front of them. “For once neither of you have done anything to warrant my disapproval although it’s still early…”</p>
<p>An unfamiliar voice let out a loud snort behind them, the sound quickly muffled behind a hastily muttered apology, and as one the brothers turned to look over their left shoulders.</p>
<p>There was no mistaking the figure stood in the corner of the room.</p>
<p>“Holy shi–”</p>
<p>This time the younger brothers voice was cut off by an elbow to the side, courtesy of his brother who disapproved of unnecessary foul language almost as strongly as their mother.</p>
<p>“But that’s...”</p>
<p>“I am perfectly aware of who that is but that’s no excuse for foul language.”</p>
<p>There was a brief pause, during which Agent Hill went to speak only to be drowned out,</p>
<p>“…you know, I’m seeing you but I’m hearing mom…”</p>
<p>“Shut up, Jesse!”</p>
<p>“If you two have quite finished maybe I can explain the reason I summoned you here today?” Director Fury enquired, offering the brothers an arched eyebrow. “As I’m sure you’re well aware the discovery of Captain Rogers body has caused something of a stir around the world. I’m also sure I don’t need to express how news of his unprecedented revival is going to be received. As such it has been decided that he would benefit from having someone on hand to help him adjust to the changes brought about over the course of the last seventy years who will also be able to deal with any security threats that occur.”</p>
<p>“…you want us to look after a national hero? <em>Us</em>?”</p>
<p>“Yes,” Director Fury answered shortly even as the <em>national hero </em>in question winced at being referred to as such. “Captain Rogers will have many questions that you will be best suited to answer. He has requested to return to New York, specifically Brooklyn, so I’ll be transferring the two of you to the New York office indefinitely and we’ll provide you with an apartment.”</p>
<p>“An apartment for me and Jesse or an apartment for all three of us?”</p>
<p>“I do not need babysitters around the clock,” Captain Rogers protested, finally moving forwards to stand beside the two brothers. “Honestly I don’t think I need them at all…”</p>
<p>“Captain Rogers, these Agents are probably the only people in the world that can truly understand what you’re going through as well as being capable of protecting you so…”</p>
<p>“Understand?” he repeated incredulously. “How can then possibly understand what…”</p>
<p>“You’ve woken up in a world where everyone you knew and loved is gone,” the elder brother interrupted him, his voice thick with sympathy and shared grief as his words silenced the taller man’s protests. “And no matter what happens you’ll never get any of them back. All you have left if pictures, if you’re lucky, and memories that will fade in time.”</p>
<p>“Miles, maybe you shouldn’t…”</p>
<p>“You don’t know how long you’re going to live for, what that serum really did to you,” he continued on despite his brothers soft protest. “If being frozen in the ice for seventy years after crashing a plane didn’t kill you then there’s a pretty good chance that nothing will. It could be that you won’t age; we just don’t know. What we do know is that you’re the only super-soldier they were able to create so, unless you let us in, you’re going to be alone.”</p>
<p>“And how will letting the two of you babysit me make any difference?”</p>
<p>A sad smile blossomed on the older brothers face.</p>
<p>“Because we’ve been in your shoes,” he answered softly. “This is not common knowledge, in fact only three people outside of this room are aware of what I’m about to tell you; my brother and I are much older than we appear to be. I was born in 1782, a year before the end of the Revolutionary War, and when I was twenty-four-years-old I became immortal.”</p>
<p>“I was seventeen,” Jesse added, waving as he did so. “I still am seventeen, technically.”</p>
<p>“You’re…”</p>
<p>“Only we didn’t realise what had happened to us until it was too late,” Miles pressed on as though he hadn’t been interrupted, his eyes glistening with tears. “I got married, had a son. Thomas. His name was Thomas. And my wife took him away when she realised something was wrong with me, when she noticed that I wasn’t ageing, when something that should’ve killed me didn’t. She took him away and I never saw either of them again. I don’t have any pictures to remember them by, we didn’t have the money for that sort of thing, and now I can barely remember the sound of my sons laughter let alone what his smile looked like.”</p>
<p>He paused, inhaling shakily as all eyes remained on him.</p>
<p>“You’ve lost everyone you knew, Captain, just as we have lost everyone we’ve known in the last two-hundred years,” he concluded softly, a single tear escaping. “We know how much it hurts to think of them but how much worse it is to forget them. We know how angry it can make you feel. You think we haven’t spent the last two-hundred years asking why us? Why did we deserve to exist forever and not some of the wonderful people we’ve known? The only difference between us is that you’ve missed seventy years of your life whereas we’ve existed for two-hundred-and-six years with no end in sight. So, no, you might not feel like you <em>need</em> a couple of babysitters but the Directors right in that we can help you to adjust.”</p>
<p>Silence followed his emotional conclusion.</p>
<p>“…I don’t know what to say…”</p>
<p>Miles offered him an apologetic smile.</p>
<p>“You don’t have to say anything, Captain Rogers,” he murmured, turning so that he and the younger man were stood face to face. It was unusual for him to find someone taller than him given his own above average height but it wasn’t just the height that made the super-soldier so effortlessly intimidating; it was the sheer impressiveness of his muscles. Knowing that they had been created almost entirely by the serum did little to detract from this impressiveness. “I can’t speak for my brother but I’m more than happy to help you adjust.”</p>
<p>“Me too,” Jesse piped up, offering the Captain a bright smile before focusing his attention towards Director Fury. “So back to the earlier question; do you mean an apartment for us,” he paused, gesturing between himself and his brother, “or rather an apartment for <em>us</em>?”</p>
<p>This last question was accompanied by a sweeping motion that included the Captain as well.</p>
<p>“An apartment for the three of you,” Director Fury confirmed, smirking at the face that Jesse pulled upon hearing that. “Don’t worry, Agent Tuck, we’ll make sure it’s big enough.”</p>
<p>“Well, then, as we’re going to be sharing an apartment for the foreseeable future I suppose proper introductions are in order,” Miles offered, extending his hand towards the Captain who responded by offering his own, allowing the two of the, to shake hands. “Miles Tuck.”</p>
<p>“Steve Rogers.”</p>
<p>“Jesse Tuck,” his brother supplied his own name and hand moments later, grinning even wider than he already had been when the Captain shook his hand. “We’ve met before, actually, back in the Winter of ‘44. Bastogne. I’m sure you remember Bastogne. I’ve never known anyone forget it. I was in Europe with the 101st Airborne; Easy Company, 506th.”</p>
<p>“…you were in the war?”</p>
<p>“Not just that one,” Jesse chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck as he nodded towards his brother. “Before we joined S.H.I.E.L.D we volunteered for anything we could, especially if there wasn’t much chance of survival; better to send someone who can’t die, even if you don’t know you are, than an innocent soul who can. But, yeah, I was in Europe whilst Miles was out in the Pacific with the Marines. Maybe we can share some war stories some time?”</p>
<p>“Jesse, that might not be…”</p>
<p>“I’d like that,” Steve spoke over Miles with a smile. “I haven’t…I haven’t felt comfortable talking about the war with anyone because…well…I don’t think they can understand…”</p>
<p>“It’s different, speaking with people who were there, who experienced the same shi…stuff you did rather than speaking with something who read about it in a book,” Jesse agreed, pulling his phone out of his pocket and searching through his pictures. Eventually he found the one he was looking for and turned the screen to face Steve, displaying the black and white photograph he’d taken a picture of. “You can probably spot me; shortest man in the company apart from our radioman. I was also the youngest…according to my paperwork.”</p>
<p>“And they gave you hell because of it?”</p>
<p>“In training, definitely,” Jesse laughed, flicking to the next photo which was a picture of him in nothing but his black PT shorts and boots trying to get away as someone poured a bucket of water over him. “But once we hit the ground in France and I proved myself not so much.”</p>
<p>Steve nodded in understanding.</p>
<p>“Excellent,” Director Fury announced brightly. “Agent Hill will sort out the details for you.”</p>
<p>“If the three of you will go and pack up your things I’ll have the transport sorted within the hour,” the notoriously efficient Agent announced calmly, standing in the position of parade rest. “The apartment will be ready and waiting for you once you arrive in New York. It’ll be fully furnished and stocked with enough food to last you a couple of days. All three of you will need to report to the New York S.H.I.E.L.D office within twenty-four hours of arrival to receive your security passes, your schedule and assignments. Captain, we will be assessing your performance before giving you any assignments rather than putting you through the Academy. Oh, and you’ll also be attending therapy which is non-negotiable, understood?”</p>
<p>“Y-Yes, Ma’am.”</p>
<p>“Good, then you’re dismissed.”</p>
<p>It wasn’t until the brothers and Captain Rogers had left the room that she spoke again, this time turning to offer her Boss a somewhat sceptical look as she enquired dryly,</p>
<p>“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Letting the Tucks look after Captain Rogers?”</p>
<p>“It was either them or Coulson and his card collection…”</p>
<p>Neither of them realised the true extent of the friendship they had just aided in the creation of, nor what a difference the Tuck brothers would have on the oncoming battles they faced.</p>
<p>~ * ~</p>
<p><strong>A/N </strong>So this idea has been floating around in my head since I first listened to the Tuck Everlasting (musical) soundtrack whilst reading a bunch of Marvel fanfictions. It is fully planned, a rarity with my stories, but I probably shouldn’t have started it with so many others already on the go…and yes, I’m aware that I say that every time I start a new fic. Please let me know if you enjoyed this and if you’re interested in reading more. I haven’t decided on pairings for this story yet so am definitely open to suggestions.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>Disclaimer: </strong>I don’t own anything to do with Captain America or the Avengers nor do I own anything to do with Tuck Everlasting – I’ve merely borrowed the characters/plot for a bit.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <span class="u">Riding The Wheel</span>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Chapter One </strong>
</p><p>They’d found the traditional boxing gym by accident and, after having it discretely checked over by S.H.I.E.L.D it had become their go to place to work off some steam in the months since they’d arrived in New York. Steve has been pleasantly survived to find that Miles and Jesse could more or less keep up with him although he had been horrified the first time he’d hit Miles too hard whilst sparring, hard enough to break his jaw. The fact that it had healed before his eyes had done little to reassure him and he’d gone lightly on them for a couple of days before he’d seen them spar with each other under “life or death” conditions and had seen Miles snap Jesse’s neck. He’d cried out in shock but Jesse had only laughed, returning the favour as soon as he’d been able to and by the end of their sparring match they could claim five “kills” each. Since then he’d stopped going easy on them and had begun to enjoy himself although when he really wanted to test his strength he had to use a punching bag.</p><p>Such as now, a little after midnight on a night when his dreams had been plagued with vivid memories of the crash, when he was too wound up to spar with a person even if they were immortal. He wasn’t alone though, for safety reasons, so Miles was sat reading a good book.</p><p>As the gaps between the punches grew shorter and short he paused in his reading, tucking his bookmark into place, and tilted his head to the side just in time to watch the hundred pound punching bag go flying across the room leaving a trail of sand in its wake as it burst.</p><p>“…better?”</p><p>Shooting his friend a smirk over his shoulder Steve made short work of picking up a fresh punching bag from the large pile by the wall, treating it as though it weighed nothing at all as he hung it from the hook on the end of the long chain and settled into a slower rhythm.</p><p>“Trouble sleeping?”</p><p>Director Fury’s distinctive voice startled both of them, drawing their gaze to where the powerful individual was stood just inside the doorway. It was somewhat concerning that neither of them, a super-soldier and a highly trained operative, had heard him join them.</p><p>A hand being waved dismissively in his direction stopped Miles from rising to his feet.</p><p>“I slept for seventy years, sir,” Steve answered him. “I think I've had my fill.”</p><p>“Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world.”</p><p>“I went under, the world was at war,” Steve responded carefully, walking over to the bench where Miles was sat, unravelling the protective tape from around his knuckles. Reaching out Miles handed him a bottle of water before shifting along the bench a little bit so that Steve could sit down beside him. “I wake up, they say we won only they didn't say what we lost.”</p><p>Steve had been horrified to learn of the lengths that the Allies had been forced to go to in order to bring about the end of the war, using atomic weapons against the people of Japan.</p><p>He wanted to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki as soon as they could to pay his respects.</p><p>Learning of the wars that had followed had only upset him more.</p><p>“We've made some mistakes along the way,” Director Fury agreed. “Some very recently.”</p><p>“You here with a mission, sir?”</p><p>“I am.”</p><p>They’d been preparing for this moment since Steve had officially passed all of the tests put to him by S.H.I.E.L.D a couple of weeks ago, the last one being the psychological exam, and so this wasn’t a great surprise. Miles had assumed they’d be called in when the time came, however, rather than Director Fury himself coming to find them in the middle of the night.</p><p>“Time to get me back in the world?”</p><p>“It’s time to save it.”</p><p>A file was handed over to each of them.</p><p>As soon as Miles opened the file he knew they were in for a difficult time.</p><p>It was about the Tesseract, primarily, which he had been briefed about officially when the scientists had begun experimenting on the alien object. He’d also herd plenty of gossip in regards to the “glowing blue box” and the fuss that it was causing from Clint, an old friend of his from his and Jesse’s early days at S.H.I.E.L.D as the marksmen had been assigned to guard the cube and, if at all possible, the scientists working on it. The priority was the cube, however, and should anything occur the poor scientists would have to fend for themselves.</p><p>Along with the information on the cube there were a few files on HYDRA’S other projects.</p><p>Steve all but hissed when he caught sight of the contents of his file,</p><p>“Hydra's secret weapon…”</p><p>“Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you,” Fury explained. “He thought what we think; the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy.”</p><p>
  <em>If they could ever get it under control, that is…</em>
</p><p>“That's something the world sorely needs.”</p><p>Steve frowned, sighing deeply.</p><p>“Who took it from you?”</p><p>“He's called Loki,” Fury answered. “He's not from around here.”</p><p>His mind flashed through the various things he’d studied over the years whilst attending college as and when he could, recalling one particular course he took on mythology. Loki was the brother of Thor according to Norse mythology, a God of mischief who sometimes assisted his fellow Gods but at other times acted maliciously towards them. Given that he knew Thor existed, had seen first-hand the aftermath of what had happened in New Mexico when he’d arrived as part of the clean-up crew, it was unsurprising that Loki existed as well.</p><p>“Sir? What about Agent Barton and the scientists who were studying the cube? Are they…?”</p><p>“We lost most of the scientists who were working on the project when Loki came through the portal created by the Tesseract,” Director Fury answered tightly. “Doctor Selvig, Agent Connors and Agent Barton, along with a couple of other junior agents, were compromised.”</p><p>“…<em>compromised</em>?”</p><p>“Loki carries a sceptre, a weapon of some kind,” Fury explained, drawing their attention to a picture taken from the security feed of the base where the attack had happened which had been included in the file. The sceptre was curved, covered with intricate carvings and ended in a deadly point. Most importantly, however, was the crystal which appeared to be glowing blue in the tip of the sceptre. “And I could only watch as he used the sceptre to control the minds of those who he deemed <em>had heart</em>. Their eyes turned ice blue and they were his...”</p><p>Miles couldn’t back a wince as he thought of his friend having his control stripped away.</p><p>Poor Clint…</p><p>“There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in,” Director Fury pressed on with confidence. “I know that the Agents’ Tuck will have done their best to help you adjust in the time that you’ve had but the world has gotten even stranger than you already know.”</p><p>“At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me…”</p><p>As he spoke Steve shot a wry grin towards Miles, glancing pointedly towards his jaw.</p><p>Director Fury snorted loudly with amusement,</p><p>“Ten bucks says you're wrong.”</p><p>He was probably correct.</p><p>They’d been helping Steve acclimate to the 21<sup>st</sup> Century but that was in terms of civilian life, specifically in the city of New York, and making him aware of the decades of history he had missed whilst being “on ice” as Jesse had put it on more than one occasion. They hadn’t as of yet spent too much time focusing on the advancements in S.H.I.E.L.D’s technology and, probably most importantly in someone like the Director’s mind, weaponry so if they went anywhere near their Aircraft Carriers or, heaven forbid, the Hellicarrier he’d get his money.</p><p>“There's a debriefing package waiting for you back at your apartment, gentlemen,” Fury announced as he turned and headed back towards the exit, seemingly satisfied that his orders would be obeyed. He paused on the threshold, however, turning back to look at Steve. “Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?”</p><p>Without even missing a beat Steve answered with all seriousness,</p><p>“You should’ve left it in the ocean.”</p><p>This was quite clearly not the response he’d been expecting, given the look he shot Miles before he swept out of the gym, his coat billowing like the villains cape in a silent movie.</p><p>“…he’s definitely a good guy, right?”</p><p>Chuckling Miles nodded, amused by the fact that Steve had apparently made a similar comparison regarding the Directors dramatic exit, and began packing away his things.</p><p>Steve did the same and then working together they quickly returned to the gym to the state it had been in when they’d arrived so primarily their work had to do with the punching bags, both in terms of the ones Steve had pre-fetched from the store cupboard which now had to be returned and the one that hadn’t survived his workout. Typically it was sweeping up the sand and disposing of it that took the longest, the little granules having gotten everywhere.</p><p>Heading back to the apartment they found Jesse dressed and ready to go in his S.H.I.E.L.D combat uniform, his freshly polished boots resting on the coffee table as he flicked through his own copy of the file; obviously someone had dropped one off for him at the same time the Director had been dealing with Miles and Steve. He didn’t seem all that impressed with the contents of the file, muttering to himself and shaking his head with every page he read.</p><p>He took one look at the two of them before cursing under his breath,</p><p>“…<em>fucking</em> HYDRA…”</p><p>For once Miles couldn’t find it within him to scold him for his use of foul language, focused as he was on ducking into his own bedroom to change into his own combat uniform. It took him less than five minutes to change completely, lacing up his boots taking the longest time, and he emerged almost perfectly in sync with Steve who’d taken the time to change into an outfit that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the 1940’s. They’d been trying to convince him to wear something a little more in keeping with the current fashions and to give him his dues he had tried but he’d looked so uncomfortable that they’d allowed him to change back into the clothes he’d picked out himself. Jesse had vowed to keep working on him, however.</p><p>“Car will be here in five minutes,” Jesse announced after checking his phone, his file having included the travel arrangements which had been made for them. “Miles, did you know we were going to be included in the <em>Avengers Initiative</em>? As in, me and you being <em>on the team?” </em></p><p>“No,” Miles answered with a frown, picking up his copy of the file from where he’d dropped it. His brother came over to help him find the page regarding the proposed members of the team, something he’d skipped earlier as he’d assumed he knew who would be in it. “Huh…”</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>Proposed Members of the Avengers Initiative </em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>Bruce Banner – “Hulk”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Clint Barton – “Hawkeye”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Thor Odinson – N/A</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Steve Rogers – “Captain America”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Natasha Romanoff – “Black Widow”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Tony Stark – “Iron Man”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jesse Tuck – “Phoenix Two”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Miles Tuck – “Phoenix One”</em>
</p><p>“Yeah, I knew the team was in the theoretical stages but I had no idea they were going to put us on it, though I guess it sort of makes sense,” Jesse muttered, ruffling his hair for the sole purpose of turning it into an even bigger mess than it already was. He considered it his trademark amongst their fellow top level S.H.I.E.L.D agents, like Natasha’s <em>bite</em>, Clint’s bow or Melinda May’s all-around-impressiveness. What he still hadn’t realised was the fact that his actual trademark was the cheeky grin he shot everyone be they a good guy or a bad guy, a member of janitorial staff or Director Fury himself. Miles, on the other hand, was known for the fact that he didn’t need to say much to get the job done. “Of course, what we should really be asking is how come I have to be <em>Phoenix Two </em>when I come before you on the list?”</p><p>Rolling his eyes Miles shouldered past his brother on the way out of the door, earning a bark of laughter from the younger man as he followed him out of the apartment still pretending to be upset by the designators they’d been given. Steve followed behind, pausing to secure the locks on their apartment, before catching up with the brothers on the stairs. As an only child he’d never experienced sibling behaviour quite like that which he had come to realise was normal for the Tuck brothers, although his relationship with Bucky had come close at times, and he was happy to spend the car ride listening to them bantering back and forth.</p><p>They arrived at the S.H.I.E.L.D offices, complete with four hidden underground levels and a helipad on the roof that was designed for a quinjet rather than a helicopter, just as the sun was beginning to appear from behind the buildings, painting the sky a brilliant shade of red.  </p><p>“Red sky at night, shepherds delight; red sky in the morning, shepherds warning.”</p><p>“I never put much stock in that old saying,” a familiar voice rumbled, causing both Miles and Jesse to smile as they turned to greet their friend and fellow agent. “Agents Tuck. Captain.”</p><p>“Coulson,” Miles greeted his friend even as Jesse exclaimed brightly, “Phil!”</p><p>The younger of the two then darted in for a hug before their mission handler could protest.</p><p>They had known Phil for years, so long that they’d gone from considering him a mentor to considering him a friend years ago, having met him for the first time back in 1995 when the brothers had inadvertently appeared on S.H.I.E.L.D’s radar during an incident involving Vers, a mysterious young woman who belonged to an organisation known as Starforce, who had come to Earth during her search for her missing past. She’d crash landed in Los Angeles, into a blockbuster no less, and by pure coincidence Miles and Jesse had been visiting the city at the time. They’d met whilst she was dealing with a Skrull attack, offering her aid after Jesse suffered an injury that should’ve killed him in front of her, and had met Direct Fury, then simply Agent Nick Fury and his subordinate Agent Phil Coulson in the chaos that followed.</p><p>By the end of the adventure Vers had learned the truth; that her real name was in fact Carol Danvers and that she was an Air Force pilot who was presumed to have died in 1989 whilst testing an experimental light-speed engine, that the Skrulls were not the enemy as she had been led to believe but were in fact refugees searching for a new home and that those who she thought she could trust were actually out to control her or worse, destroy her. It was dramatic, violent and eye-opening for the brothers who had never believed any of the so called “alien sightings” they’d seen make the headlines during their extraordinary lifetime.</p><p>In the end Carol Danvers had left Earth temporarily in order to help the Skrulls find a new homeworld where they would be safe and the brothers had been invited to join S.H.I.E.L.D.</p><p>Their immortality had been investigated by S.H.I.E.L.D’s best scientists but, given that the brothers both claimed to have no idea how they had come to be the way they were, and nothing showed up in their DNA they were eventually labelled as “enhanced” and put to work. It had been terrifying to begin with, having so many people know about such a huge part of their secret, but Phil had been by the side from the very beginning and had stayed there ever since. He’d taught them everything they could need to know about S.H.I.E.L.D, including which paperwork they needed to do and which paperwork they could get away without doing, as well as ensuring that they received all of the training they needed; both brothers could fight, yes, and had pretty good aim but neither had done anything like what S.H.I.E.L.D had required of them since the war in Vietnam so they needed a bit of an update.</p><p>“Thank you for agreeing to come, Captain Rogers.”</p><p>Steve offered the man a tight smile.</p><p>They’d told him a little about some of their friends and had definitely mentioned Phil if not by name then as their handler more than once; they hadn’t, however, told him how much of a “fanboy” their friend was. Knowing that Phil had a Captain America collection that rivalled some museums probably wouldn’t be quite as amusing to Steve as it was to everyone else.</p><p>“Director Fury’s quinjet just left,” Phil went on, his tone completely professional despite the slightly panicked looking in his eyes “Ours is being fuelled up as we speak. Should be ready within the next fifteen minutes, thirty minutes at the most. Would you like a cup of coffee?”</p><p>All three of them, operating on less sleep than was ideal, took him up on his offer.</p><p>“I have a tablet ready with some footage to go along with your files if you’d like it, Captain Rogers?” Phil offered when he returned with the cups of coffee, handing them out before producing said tablet seemingly from nowhere. “Mostly footage of Iron Man and the Hulk.”</p><p>“What, are we not special enough to get some footage, Phil?”</p><p>“I figured the Captain will be pretty familiar with the nature of your enhancements by now, Agent Tuck, given the status reports I’ve been receiving from your brother,” Phil countered tightly, watching Steve’s hands a little bit too closely as the other man reached out to take the offered tablet. “Speaking of which I’m still waiting to receive as single report from you.”</p><p>“Oh, you know how it is, Phil,” Jesse laughed. “Paperwork and I don’t really get along.”</p><p>“Yes, I know, and thanks to you Agent Barton thinks that he can get away with–”</p><p>Their old friend cut himself off with a wince as spoke of their compromised friend.</p><p>Jesse was convinced that Phil was painfully in love with the marksman and had been for years, possibly since they’d helped to bring the then assassin for hire into the fold. They flirted constantly although Phil seemed to always take it a bit more seriously than Clint, a natural born flirt, did. Jesse had concluded from this that his feelings were unreciprocated.</p><p>Miles, however, was of the opinion that Clint returned every one of his feelings but due to his less than stellar upbringing had very little to go on by way of healthy relationships and how he should go about making Phil aware of the fact that his flirting was completely real.</p><p>And Natasha?</p><p>Well, she had been ready to bash their heads together long ago just so they’d get over it.</p><p>“We’ll get him back,” Miles promised firmly, reaching out to rest his hand comfortingly on Phil’s arm. “We’ve never left a man behind before and I for one don’t intend to start now.”</p><p>The next hour passed by relatively uneventfully, the quinjet taking off from the helipad without any issues, and Steve spent the journey watching the videos Phil had provided.</p><p>He’d been both impressed and horrified by the footage of Tony Stark, in awe of the footage of the incident in New Mexico with Thor and the Destroyer, impressed by the footage of Natasha, Clint, Miles and Jesse on one of their more difficult missions and finally confused and a bit distressed by the footage of the Hulk’s attack on the Army and Culver University.</p><p>“We're about forty minutes out from base, sir.”</p><p>“So, this Doctor Banner,” Steve murmured, tilting the tablet towards where Phil and Miles were sat opposite him and Jesse, “was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?”</p><p>“A lot of people were,” Phil responded seriously. “You were the world's first superhero.”</p><p>“Banner thought, as many did, that gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula,” Miles explained, taking the tablet and using it to search the internet for a scientific report on Banners research into gamma radiation. “He was <em>the </em>expert in gamma radiation, still is actually, but his attempt at recreating the formula…”</p><p>“Didn't really go his way, did it?”</p><p>“Not so much,” Phil sighed sadly, watching as Steve read through the scientific information with a confused expression that suggested he probably understood less than half of what he was reading. Not that any of them could blame him as only scientifically minded individuals would understand more. “When he's not that thing, though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking.”</p><p>“A what?”</p><p>“A who,” Jesse corrected him quickly. “Stephen Hawking is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist. Basically he’s really, <em>really </em>smart and as well as publishing science papers he’s also an author. I think you’d really enjoy his first book, Steve; <em>A Brief History of Time.”</em></p><p>Steve hummed thoughtfully,</p><p>“What’s it about?”</p><p>“It’s a study of the origin and evolution of the universe.”</p><p>They could understand the wide-eyed look that Steve shot the three of them,</p><p>“…they’ve studied that now?”</p><p>“That, and more,” Miles confirmed with a smile. “I’ve got a copy somewhere I can lend you.”</p><p>Before Steve could answer one way or another Phil lost what little control he had left of his professionalism, his hands beginning to tremble uncharacteristically as he smiled at Steve.  </p><p>“I gotta say, it's an honour to meet you, officially,” he blurted out, his voice hesitant and not at all as strong as usual. “I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping.”</p><p>Miles and Jesse turned slowly to stare at their friend who flushed.</p><p>“I mean, I was...I was present while you were unconscious from the ice...”</p><p>“Er, Phil?”</p><p>Flushing deeply Phil pressed on, seemingly unable to stop now that he’d started to speak,</p><p>“You know, it's really, it's just a...just a huge honour to have you on board…”</p><p>“Well,” Steve sighed awkwardly. “I hope I'm the man for the job.”</p><p>“Oh, you are,” Phil hurried to reassure him unnecessarily. “Absolutely.”</p><p>Steve tried to focus on the tablet in his hands, hoping that doing so would draw the uncomfortable conversation to an end, and Jesse leaned over to return the tablet to previous setting so they could watch the next reference video of the Hulk in Harlem.</p><p>“Uh...we've made some modifications to the uniform,” Phil announced once that last video had ended as the next file on the tablet was his uniform design. “I had a little design input.”</p><p>“The uniform?” Steve sputtered. “Aren't the stars and stripes a little...old fashioned?”</p><p>“With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned,” Phil answered him, his voice and demeanour steadying as he reigned his inner fanboy back under control. “I’ve ordered that the uniform be readied.”</p><p>“Really, Phil?” Miles muttered under his breath, nudging his friends shoulder with his own as silence settled in the quinjet, Jesse bringing up a few more relevant articles for Steve to read. “<em>I was present while you were sleeping? </em>We you aiming to sound like Edward Cullen?”</p><p>“I know,” Phil groaned. “I can’t even say it sounded better in my head…”</p><p>The landing was smooth, the pilot well-trained in the art of landing on a moving ship, and once the back had opened the four of them strode down the ramp onto the deck of what appeared to an untrained eye appeared to be a state-of-the-art aircraft carrier. Steve, who had only ever seen such ships at a distance or in pictures was understandably impressed.</p><p>A figure approached them, the wind blowing her hair about her face.</p><p>“I’d know that glorious hair anywhere,” Jesse laughed brightly, hurrying across to pull the second deadliest woman they knew into a hug. She allowed it, patting him on the back as though he were an over-excited child. “Natasha, it’s been far too long. How’ve you been?”</p><p>“Better,” she responded, allowing Miles to give her a much more reserved hug. “You?”</p><p>“Not bad,” he answered with a shrug. “Until this kicked off…”</p><p>“Agent Romanoff,” Phil piped up, making the necessary introduction. “Captain Rogers.”</p><p>Steve offered her one of his trademark smiles,</p><p>“Ma’am.”</p><p>“Hi,” she responded before turning to Phil. “They need you on the bridge.”</p><p>Phil nodded, his professionalism firmly back in place as he offered a quick “See you there” before darting off to report to the bridge leaving Natasha in charge of the new arrivals.</p><p>“There was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice,” Natasha commented as they followed Steve towards the edge of the flight deck. “I thought Coulson was gonna swoon.”</p><p>“You should’ve heard what he said on the quinjet,” Jesse snorted childishly. “It was…”</p><p>He mimed kissing his fingers like someone who was praising a spectacular meal.</p><p>“Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?”</p><p>Steve looks genuinely horrified by the notion.</p><p>“Trading cards?”</p><p>“Yeah, we didn’t think you were quite ready to hear about the sheer amount of somewhat questionable merchandise that’s been created <em>in honour of </em>or <em>in memory of </em>you during the last seventy years,” Jesse confessed with a grin, patting his friends back in commiseration. “I mean, yeah, some of it’s not so bad and that includes the original cards. But others…<em>yikes</em>…”</p><p>“They're vintage,” Natasha explain, referring to Phil’s collection. “He's very proud.”</p><p>A figure appeared around the quinjet, stumbling nervously out of the way of anyone who came anywhere near him. He looked like a professor, complete with a purple shirt and a matching set of blazer and trousers. It was hard to believe that such a man could become…</p><p>“Doctor Banner,” Steve called out in greeting, offering his hand. “Steve Rogers.”</p><p>“Oh, yeah,” Bruce mumbled, shaking the offered hand. “They told me you'd be coming.”</p><p>“Word is you can find the cube.”</p><p>“…is that the only word on me?”</p><p>Steve fixed him with a look before answering honestly,</p><p>“Only word I care about.”</p><p>His response obviously took the scientist by surprise who was no doubt used to people judging him for things that were out of his control, a soft smile blossoming on his face.</p><p>“Must be strange for you,” Bruce murmured sympathetically. “All of this.”</p><p>“Well, this is actually kind of familiar…”</p><p>Miles and Jesse took a moment of offer their own hands to the scientist, introducing themselves as they did so, before moving across to stand on either side of Natasha.</p><p>An alarm sounded, lights flashing around the flight deck.</p><p>“Gentlemen, you may wanna step inside in a minute,” Natasha advised dryly as everyone else on the flight deck began securing everything down before heading inside the ship via the nearest hatch in a state of semi-controlled chaos. “It's gonna get a little hard to breath.”</p><p>The deck began to shake beneath their feet.</p><p>“…is this is a submarine?”</p><p>Bruce scoffed understandably,</p><p>“Really? They want <em>me</em> in a submerged pressurised metal container?”</p><p>As one the scientist and the soldier leaned over the edge of the flight deck just in time to see two huge turbines appear in the water, seeming to rise up into the open air…only it wasn’t just the turbines that were rising; no, it was the entire craft upon which they stood.</p><p>“Oh, no, this is much worse.”</p><p>~ * ~</p><p><strong>A/N </strong>I meant to progress a little further through the original plot but it just felt right to end this chapter here so I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until the next chapter to see how Tony Stark reacts to meeting the Tuck brothers. Comments welcome. Stay safe everyone! X</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter Two.</strong>
</p><p>As you’d expect during such a critical and potentially dangerous manoeuvre the bridge was a flurry of activity when their group arrived. Approximately half of the room’s occupants glanced across at them, focusing mostly on Steve as was to be expected, before refocusing their attention back on the screens in front of them. A couple of familiar faces paused to offer Miles and Jesse a nod or even a wave, greeting with respect for their position within the organisation, before they too focused on their tasks at hand. Director Fury stood at his consoles, calmly surveying them as a King would his Kingdom, whilst Agent Hill was the one actually giving out the orders, all of which were obeyed immediately and without question.</p><p>“…I can’t believe what I’m seeing,” Steve confessed softly to Miles, gazing about himself with an almost childish wonder. “I’m trying to compare it to Red Skulls plane but…it’s so…”</p><p>Miles nodded in understanding just as Agent Hill called out,</p><p>“We're at lock, sir.”</p><p>“Good,” Director Fury grunted. “Let's vanish.”</p><p>“Vanish?” Steve repeated, his confusion understandable. A little way away Dr Banner, who was shying away from anyone who approached him if they were visibly armed, seemed just as confused. Miles and Jesse offered both of them a reassuring smile. “I don’t understand.”</p><p>“Engage retro reflection panels.”</p><p>“Advanced camouflage,” Miles explained, nodding towards the row of state-of-the-art computers that were responsible for overseeing said camouflage. As they watched the agents manning the computers reported in to their supervisor, standing behind them authoritatively, that their individual sections of the camouflage were working at 100%. Activating his earpiece the supervisor relayed their status to Agent Hill who nodded, satisfied with their work, and confirmed for Director Fury that the camouflage was up. “Someone in R&amp;D, that’s <em>Research &amp; Development</em> by the way, proposed an idea not too long ago that could potentially make an aircraft invisible to the naked eye from the ground. It needed some tweaking so they turned it into a proper project, a dozen or so of the best scientist and engineers working together on the problem, and now here we are. If I recall correctly it basically projects the image of the sky above us onto large panels lining the hull, effectively turning us invisible. This, combined with the usual electronic countermeasures that we’ve been using for years, makes it possible for us to go pretty much undetected.”</p><p>“I would never have dreamed that something like this could be possible,” Steve confessed, his eyes positively glowing with wonder. “We didn’t even have electricity in our apartment when I was growing up and then in the war…just think how it might have turned out if we’d had technology like this available to us? How many innocent lives could have been saved?”</p><p>Satisfied that everything was running smoothly and no longer required his personal supervision Director Fury turned his back on the bridge, nodding towards his guests,</p><p>“Gentlemen.”</p><p>Miles, having been present when the bet had been made, was the only one not to adopt a frown of confusion when Steve responded to the greeting by silently taking out his wallet, retrieving a ten dollar bill and handing it over to the Director who pocketed it with a smirk.</p><p>“Care to explain?”</p><p>“Steve thought nothing could surprise him anymore,” Miles answered his brother softly, watching as Steve moved down to get a closer look at the various consoles, Agent Hill closely tracking his every movement. “The Director bet him ten bucks that he was wrong.”</p><p>Jesse snorted loudly.</p><p>“Doctor,” Fury greeted the scientist surprisingly warmly, extending his hand without any sign of hesitation. Shuffling his feet nervously the mild-mannered scientist reluctantly offered his own hand, even going so far as to flinch as they shook. “Thank you for coming.”</p><p>“Thanks for asking nicely,” Banner responded. “So, uh...how long am I staying?”</p><p>“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear.”</p><p>Nodding in approval the scientist enquired softly,</p><p>“Where are you with that?”</p><p>“We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet,” Coulson reported from where he was stood, now armed with a tablet which he was monitoring whilst at the same time keeping a close eye on the reports running on the computer screens surrounding him. Each computer seemed to have been tasked with searching for a different person, an image of said person dominating one half of the screen whilst the other shifted through possible matches at an impossible speed. “Cell phones, laptops, traffic cameras, private security feeds, ATM machines; if it's connected to a network or a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us.”</p><p>“That's still not gonna find them in time,” Natasha sighed, crouching down on the upper level of the room so that she could check on the search for Clint. “They know how to hide.”</p><p>“You have to narrow the field,” Dr Banner announced, pausing to calculate something in his head before he turned to Director Fury. “How many spectrometers do you have access to?”</p><p>“How many are there?”</p><p>“Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays,” the scientist ordered, shifting his jacket from one hand to the other as he attempted to squash whatever nerves he was still feeling about the situation. “I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places…”</p><p>“…what’s a spectrometer?”</p><p>“It’s a scientific instrument used to separate and measure spectral components of a physical phenomenon,” Jesse, who had been curious enough to attend college over and over again through their years before joining S.H.I.E.L.D, answered Steve’s soft query with a smile. It wasn’t all that surprising that Steve was curious soul, filled with questions about the world around him, and answering those questions had become instinctive for the brothers. “The first spectrometers were developed in early studies of physics, astronomy, and chemistry.”</p><p>“Huh.”</p><p>“Do you have somewhere for me to work?”</p><p>“Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr Banner to his laboratory, please.”</p><p>“You're gonna love it, Doc,” Natasha reassured him, rising gracefully to her feet and leading the scientist off of the bridge. “We got all the toys. We’ve got some scientists on standby…”</p><p>“I work best alone…”</p><p>“No problem,” Natasha responded calmly to the hasty interruption. “We’ve also got coffee.”</p><p>Jesse let out a childish whine,</p><p>“Coffee…”</p><p>“You know where the galley is, Agent Tuck,” Agent Hill called out from where she was stood overseeing the bridge, arching an eyebrow in his direction when pouted for a long moment before sighing and heading for the door. “Oh, and Agent Tuck? I take mine with two sugars.”</p><p>“Black,” Director Fury called out moments before Coulson added, “Hazelnut Cream, please.”</p><p>Jesse hesitated in the doorway, glaring back at all of them, and Miles couldn’t help but add,</p><p>“You know my order, little brother, but Steve? How do you take yours?”</p><p>“However it comes,” Steve offered up, offering Jesse a teasing smirk. “Thanks for the offer.”</p><p>Grumbling to himself about how he <em>didn’t </em>offer to get a coffee order in Jesse stalked off the bridge, making his way to the nearest galley where he pondered returning with only his own cup of coffee. Were it just Steve and his brother waiting on coffee he hadn’t offered to get he’d definitely have ignored their request. The addition of Coulson and the Director wasn’t even enough to guarantee that he’d bring back the tray of coffees but the idea of refusing an order, even one such as this, from Agent Hill was…well, it was terrifying enough that he started laying out enough coffee mugs for everyone who had spoken up. The most difficult thing to find in the galley was the hazelnut creamer, someone having hidden it so that it didn’t get used by anyone and everyone, but soon enough he was making his way back to the bridge carrying a tray of lightly steaming coffees. He’d even added a plate of cookies.</p><p>“Okay, I’ve got a black coffee with two sugars for Hull?” he called out, pitching his voice into a thick Brooklyn accent and imitating a very confused Barista. “Hull? Or it could be Hell…?”</p><p>“Ever the comedian, Agent Tuck.”</p><p>Offering her his trademark grin the young immortal handed over her coffee to the terrifying woman when she approached him, nodding to the small plate of cookies until she took one.</p><p>“Okay, hazelnut cream for the Son of Coul? And a black Americano for Director Fuzzy?”</p><p>“You’re pushing it, Agent Tuck,” the Director muttered, reaching out to take his coffee from the tray before helping himself to not one but two cookies. Coulson accepted his when Jesse reached over the barrier to give it to him but declined a cookie. “Not bad coffee, though.”</p><p>“Thank you, sir,” Jesse gushed as though it was the highest compliment he’d ever received. “Okay, now I’ve got a cream and one sugar for…I can’t say that in the presense of ladies!”</p><p>Offering his brother a melodramatically scandalised look, one that was met with an eye roll of suitably dramatic proportions, Jesse passed over the mug and a cookie with a saucy wink.</p><p>“And lastly I’ve got a black American with one sugar for the <em>star spangled man with a plan.” </em></p><p>“Oh, God,” Steve groaned in response to Jesse singing the unbearably catchy tune, ducking his head as one of his hands came up to rub the back of his neck. “That’s not still a thing?”</p><p>“It is indeed,” Jesse chuckled, handing over the penultimate coffee on the tray. “I know of at least one person using it as their ringtone on their private cell phone.” From where he was stood behind Steve on the lower level Coulson shot a somewhat panicked glare towards the chuckling agent. “Course, I remember it from the newsreels from your time spent on tour.”</p><p>“…I hated that song,” Steve grumbled, albeit good naturedly. “It was too…<em>flamboyant</em>…”</p><p>“I guess that’s one way of describing it,” Miles agreed, reaching out to snatch a cookie from the plate even as his brother tried to pull it away from him. “Although it’s not the worst one. There’ve been quite a few films made about you over the years and most of them, the last few movies in particular, came complete with a saccharine song about your <em>noble sacrifice</em>.”</p><p>“I particularly liked the one from 1998,” Jesse laughed uproariously, placing the tray down on the conference before picking up his own mug. “What was it, <em>his shield flew straight and true,</em>” he sung, his voice warbling up and down as per the song. “<em>And my heart flew too…” </em></p><p>Steve looked understandably horrified.</p><p>“We’ll have a viewing sometime,” Jesse promised. “Starting with the worst ones, of course.”</p><p>“…that doesn’t sound like fun at all…”</p><p>For a long while after that there was nothing to do but wait, the mugs returning to the tray one by one as they were emptied of their contents. The cookies vanished far more quickly, leaving behind only a few crumbs on the plate, and eventually the tray was removed by a helpful young agent who actually offered to get rid of it as he was already heading that way.</p><p>After a little while Coulson handed his tablet off to another agent and joined the others on the higher level, making his way across to stand beside Steve and all but blurting out, </p><p>“I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind possibly signing my collection of trading cards…”</p><p>Miles and Jesse shared a look as their friend became little more than a stuttering simpleton.</p><p>“…I mean, if it’s not too much trouble.”</p><p>“No,” Steve confirmed, obviously startled by the request. “No, it’s fine.”</p><p>“It’s a vintage set,” Coulson went on, trying desperately to act calmer than he felt. “Took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint, only a slight foxing around the edges but…”</p><p>
  <em>“We got a hit!” </em>
</p><p>All eyes snapped toward Agent Sitwell, watching as he crouched over the shoulder of the woman manning to computer that had made the match, his body tense with anticipation.</p><p>“67% match.”</p><p>“That’s not…”</p><p>“Wait,” Sitwell called, eagerness filling his usually flat voice. “Cross match – 79%. It’s him!”</p><p>“Location?”</p><p>“Stuttgart, Germany.”</p><p>Now that was a surprise, Miles thought to himself, given the options available to them.</p><p>“Twenty eight, Königstraße.”</p><p>Multiple screens were now dedicated to following the alien responsible for everything that had happened within the last forty-eight hours as he made his way through a busy crowd of well-dressed individuals, passing from camera to camera as they tracked his movements.</p><p>“He’s not exactly hiding.”</p><p>There was definitely something ethereal about their target in spite of the perfectly normal if exquisitely cut suit and coat he was wearing, the suit a charcoal grey and the coat inky black. He wore his long black hair slicked back from his face but, from what the brother could see, had used nothing to keep it in place and yet not a single strand moved out of place. His scarf was being worn more as a stylish rather than a form of protection against the cold air, the patterned fabric hanging casually around his neck, and he carried an equally stylish cane in his hand. The fact that the jewel in the handle of the cane glowed blue just as the staff had in the security footage from the attack on the science base was all the more confirmation that they had identified the correct individual. Most annoyingly of all, the brothers decided, was that he was unreasonably attractive despite the air of danger that was surrounding him.</p><p>“Captain,” Director Fury announced calmly. “You’re up.”</p><p>Steve nodded, turning towards the door before pausing and glancing back at the brothers.</p><p>“Where do you need us, Director?”</p><p>“Where do you think?” Fury chuckled, folding his arms as he nodded towards where Steve was now loitering in the doorway. “Someone needs to show him around so get out of here.”</p><p>Laughing with delight Jesse offered the Director a cheeky salute, one that were he still in the actual military would’ve seen him being pulled up for disrespect towards a superior officer. As it was Fury merely rolled his remaining eye at the antics of his notoriously spirited agent.</p><p>Miles followed his younger brother off of the bridge, nodding his own significantly more respectful farewell to his boss, and together they made their way down to the locker room where they’d stored the various bits of uniform and equipment that the proposed members of the Avengers initiative might need. This included the suit Agent Coulson had redesigned.</p><p>“Well…”</p><p>“…we won’t lose you in a crowd,” Jesse pointed out cheerfully, taking in the vivid blue colour of the suit. “And look! They even kept the mask, or, no, it’s called a cowl isn’t it?”</p><p>“It’s the hair,” Miles murmured, unable to resist joining in with his brother in teasing their friend, nudging Steve with his elbow before pressing the button to raise the protective glass out of the way. “They’ve gotta hide that beacon of light somehow. Now, time to try it on.”</p><p>They gave the younger man a bit of privacy to change into the uniform, turning their backs on him and listening as he grunted his way through peeling the ridiculously tight outfit on.</p><p>“Why do they always have to make these things so tight?” Steve grumbled, tugging at the ends of his sleeves. “I mean, the last one was literally a costume so I can sort of understand it but this is meant to be a uniform I wear into battle. Does it <em>really </em>need to be this tight?”</p><p>“I think there will be a lot of people out there who would answer yes simply because of the way those trousers cling to your thigh muscles,” Jesse snigged, reaching out to slap Steve’s bottom as he made his way to the door. “Not to mention that glorious behind of yours!”</p><p>“Natasha says the suit being tight actually helps her when she had to be, and I quote, <em>a little bit more creative with her hand-to-hand combat</em>,” Miles offered, grabbing the gloves from the case and handing them to Steve once the solider had finished strapping his belt into place. “Plus it’s not gonna get caught on anything, unlike the time Jesse ended up exposing himself to a group of armed militia when a jump into the fight went horribly wrong…”</p><p>“I thought we agreed never to mention that incident?”</p><p>“You did,” Miles answered his brother with a smirk. “I sure as hell didn’t.”</p><p>Jesse swore revenge but, cheerful soul that he was, spent their journey to the hangar regaling Steve with the exact details of the incident even though it was embarrassing.</p><p>They found Natasha already going through the pre-flight checks on the quinjet, Miles slipping into the co-pilot seat beside her, and in no time at all they were ready to go. A moment passed where they waited for permission to launch and then they were away.</p><p>As ever Jesse talked enough for the four of them during the flight although even he fell silent as they crossed into German airspace, focusing instead on going through one more check of his equipment, and by the time they reached Stuttgart the only sounds within the quinjet were there breathing, computers beeping and the mechanical sounds of the aircraft.</p><p>They were closing in on their destination when a burst of flame rose up into the air.</p><p>“Well, at least we know we’re in the right place.”</p><p>“Got him,” Natasha grunted, reaching up to switch on the terrifyingly powerful microphone which for a long moment merely amplified the screams of the fleeing crowd. “Let’s see w–”</p><p>“Kneel before me,” a cold voice commanded. “I said <em>kneel!” </em></p><p>The quinjet’s cameras focused on the source of the voice, showing a man dressed in a gold, black and green outfit that was clearly of alien origin, complete with a rather ostentatious helmet that featured a pair of overly large horns that Miles suspected had been included simply to added some height to his already impressive stature. He clearly had some form of “magical” power as there were a dozen copies of himself surrounding the terrified crowd.</p><p>Miles couldn’t blame them for dropping to their knees.</p><p>“Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?” the alien, Loki of Asgard, announced theatrically, striding deep into the crowd. “It’s the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life’s joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end you will always kneel.”</p><p>An old man, clearly old enough to remember the Second World War, rose to his feet.</p><p>“Cap…”</p><p>“I’m on it,” Steve grunted. “Agent Romanoff, can you open the hatch.”</p><p>Through the speakers came the old man’s surprisingly clear voice,</p><p>“Not to men like you.”</p><p>As one the brothers let out identical huffs, impressed by the old man’s courage.</p><p>Loki, on the other hand, was clearly annoyed that a human had dared to argue with him,</p><p>“There are no men like me.”</p><p>“There are <em>always</em> men like you.”</p><p>This was the end of Loki’s patience, if such a thing even existed.</p><p>“Look to your elder, people,” he announced, raising his spear. “Let him be an example.”</p><p>The jewel in the tip of the spear began to glow, clearly charging…</p><p>“Steve…”</p><p>A grunt was the only answer before their friend jumped between the old man and the invading alien, deflecting the beam of deadly blue light with his shield with enough precision to send it flying back towards Loki, knocking his legs out from under him with a loud bang.</p><p>“You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else,” Steve offered up as he walked almost leisurely towards Loki. “We ended up disagreeing.”</p><p>Loki sneered across at the national icon, rising to his feet,</p><p>“The soldier; the man out of time.”</p><p>“I’m not the one who’s out of time.”</p><p>Natasha skilfully pulled the quinjet into a threatening position behind Steve, nodding to Miles who flipped the relevant switches to arm the crafts weapons system, targeting every single one of them on the supposed Asgardian. This allowed Natasha to activate the comm,</p><p>“Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.”</p><p>It came as no surprise when he attacked rather than give up the fight so easily, Natasha banking hard to avoid the unnatural discharge from his spear. Steve, in true Captain America fashion, launching his shield at the alien’s chest before launching himself into hand-to-hand combat with him as the crowd fled as quickly as they could. Miles fired only a couple of times, unable to get a lock on Loki due to the mass of civilians scrambling for their lives.</p><p>“We need to get down there,” Jesse muttered anxiously. “Steve needs backup.”</p><p>And he did because although he was strong Loki was seemingly stronger and, before any of them realised what had happened he had Steve on his knees with his sceptre pressing down on the back of his head so as to keep him from even looking up at the alien as he ordered,</p><p>“Kneel!”</p><p>In a move that was purely Steve, something that would never be taught by an instructor that was for sure, their friend jumped up and landed a kick to the centre of Loki’s chest.</p><p>“Not today!”</p><p>Their fight resumed, their movements even more unpredictable.</p><p>Natasha huffed, trying to line up a shot for Miles to take,</p><p>“Guy’s all over the place…”</p><p>“I know, but…”</p><p>Just then their earpieces crackled, the unexpected sound of music filling their ears before…</p><p>“Agent Romanoff, you miss me?”</p><p>Stark.</p><p>“This is either going to go really well or <em>really </em>bad,” Jesse sighed, watching as the P.A system was hacked so that AC/DC’s <em>‘Shoot to Thrill’ </em>could be blasted out over the plaza. “Seriously?”</p><p>“Oh, like you’ve never done something like that, little brother,” Miles snorted, watching as the Iron Man suit zoomed past them to fire a blast at Loki, knowing him down. “Good hit.”</p><p>“Make a move reindeer games.”</p><p>None of them were expecting him to surrender, holding his hands up as his clothes faded into something much more ordinary if undeniably stylish before their eyes. Miles frowned,</p><p>“…that was <em>way</em> too easy.”</p><p>Natacha grunted in agreement even as she focused on landing the quinjet, cursing under her breath as a couple of panicking civilians darted into her way rather than out, one of them cutting it so close that it was only her skill as a pilot that saved him from serious injury.</p><p>Loki, meanwhile, had raised his hands up into the universal sign of surrender, his armour flickering eerily before fading away before their eyes to reveal his sleek black coat and suit.</p><p>“Good move.”</p><p>A moment of silence passed before, painfully awkwardly, the two men greeted each other.</p><p>“Mister Stark.”</p><p>“Captain.”</p><p>A second moment passed before Jesse, his voice carrying clearly over the comms, snorted,</p><p>“Well, that’s not awkward at all…”</p><p>~ * ~</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I apologise for the delay in getting this chapter out; I got distracted with some of my “historical” fanfics and its only because I watched Endgame the other night that this stories plot bunny woke up in the back on my mind. </p><p>Comments &amp; Suggestions welcome :)</p>
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